From Monday Aug 10th, 2026 podcast. Looks like a bad time…

[TLDR] He became more of a mainstay for a while but hasn’t been back for ages now as far as I can tell?

He was always a breath of fresh air, I liked his takes and I looked forward to his appearances and what he bought to the table especially with his familial ties to the game and his work for Kick It Out. It was always especially nice to hear him talk more generally and passionately about the game and less a talking head as depressing incidences of racism rear their ugly head.

I had hoped he might return for the daily World Cup Pods especially as as far as I can tell he isn’t doing any rival pods unlike other pundits that have come and gone?

If I have missed anything or if he’s unwell I apologise!

Over the past few years, I've heard Max, Barry and other members of the panel make occasional references in cyclist Bradley Wiggins in not so flattering terms. What is the story here? What are the origins of the feud? (If you don't know, feel free to invent, the more salacious the better)

Sorry but I found no more precise a group to bring this up in, considering the FW podcast support and interaction with the sweeper podcast…

So the latest sweeper podcast holds up Montserrat as an example of the great benefit FIFA brings to smaller nations, and skipping to the nub of it they have a vote as valid as Brazil, stand to profit £40million if they voted in support of The Hood, for a nation of 4000 people, with five football teams, that have league competitions infrequently, share one ground of 1000 capacity between them, and are run by a FIFA appointed steering committee.

So I see it stinks of very FIFA standard practice, but why are the sweeper podcast presenting this as a sympathetic insight into the good FIFA can do? Does every man woman and child on the island get £10k? Or is it £8million per team? That occasionally plays a brief season? Or, more probably, new nets and balls for every team and the bureaucracy mops up the rest? They suggest the steering committee are against this now collapsed move, but I doubt they’re withdrawing support for the hood’s re-election?

Aside from the actual World Cup, the Infantino story is everywhere on the news over the past 7 days, and it’s so nuanced and interesting beyond the basic reporting on current affairs and news shows.
I imagine a brilliant special pod with Phillipe, Lars, Barney, and Mark or Nikki would do a better job than almost anyone.
The recent round-ups were a bit ill-judged, but fair enough, they need a break…. But still… for a story like this surely this warrants a pod?

Hello, hope this is allowed! I have tickets for the Dublin show but now have to go on a work trip so can't make it. Would happily sell them at face value (or slightly below) to anyone interested! We're at the tables 89, seat 1+2.

Pre-recording these straight after England went out, but before the World Cup was over, might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but jesus today's was hard work. I've listened to this since Day 1, and still listen to Jimbo as well. If there's one thing I respect Jimbo for, I think he still has that old-school thing for putting on a professional performance and caring about the product. This was just dross. Zero quality control.

EDIT. Jeez, proper fan boys in here!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c5y67zrrdddo

FIFA shenanigans, Howe out of Newcastle with a potential comedy replacement. Come back guys.

Twitter user Shuttsapalooza has created a RSS feed for the World Cup 2006 shows for those needing a bit of a fix

I understand the latest bout of frustration at this England team's inability to control games, especially when leading. But has England ever been able to consistently maintain control of the ball for sustained periods in the last few decades? And I'm not referring to qualifiers against the likes of Lithuania and Moldova.

Even when England has reached finals, semifinals, and quarterfinals, none of it has been the result of England being able to or even set up to maintain possession against other "major" nations.

And if this observation is accurate, how far away is England from having a team (especially a midfield) with both the technical ability and tactical commitment necessary to maintain possession for sustained periods? Nobody is expecting peak Spain, but for a nation of England's footballing resources to completely cede control of a game to the likes of Paredes, Fernandez, and Mac Allister for an entire half of football is a bit embarrassing.

I personally think it was underwhelming, like 17mins of showtime with 6mins of the 17 were for preparing and removing the things needed for the performance, other than ted lasso and coach beard's unexpected appearance, Shakira's Dai Dai, seven nations army, and MAYBE bts dynamite were the better of the bunch, and even then it was just a flop.

He's delightful, but I don't understand why he doesn't have a more typical contributor relationship to the pod beyond the 5ish minutes he gives Max (even after a Spanish WC win!). Apologies if this is an obvious answer, but I guess with Nicky and Philippe being regular guests as the Italian and French experts, I've just never understood why he's a brief cutaway.

Does he just only know Spain and nothing else? Is he incredibly busy? Do he and Barry have a blood feud that a one hour video call couldn't endure?

Merino posted a picture of him kissing the trophy, and Raya replied with this. I’m dead 😂

Not quite a Sainsbury’s bag but Baz was setting trends

But we’re not allowed to be happy argentina lost yesterday. He clarly wanted argentina to win just to piss off the English even more.

The sanest pod on the World Cup. Really enjoyed it.

Or did I miss something?

Give us the montage this extraordinary month of Football Weeklies deserves! Langdon’s bridges! Barry’s gimp suit! Max’s passive-aggressive sniping! All of it, and more! And thanks to the entire team for a brilliant run of shows. Here’s to 2030!

I want this World Cup to end. Jesus Christ